ScienceDaily: Top Science News

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• Milky Way black hole snacks on hot gas
• U.S. urban trees store carbon, provide billions in economic value, finds state-by-state analysis
• Sunshine could benefit health and prolong life, study suggests
• Rats take high-speed multisensory snapshots: Smell and touch, sniffing and 'whisking,' are locked in sync
• Genes show one big European family
• 20-million-year-old amber shatters theories of glass as a liquid
• Decline in snow cover spells trouble for many plants, animals
• Nerve stimulation for severe depression changes brain function
• Oldest? New 'bone-head' dinosaur hints at higher diversity of small dinosaurs
• Do bats know voices of friends they hang out with? Bats may recognize voices of other bats
• Parents who suck on their infants' pacifiers may protect their children against developing allergy
• Ice Age ancestors might have used words in common with us
• Plants 'talk' to plants to help them grow
• Personalized bone substitutes created from skin cells

Milky Way black hole snacks on hot gas Posted: 07 May 2013 05:15 PM PDT The Herschel space observatory has made detailed observations of surprisingly hot gas that may be orbiting or falling towards the supermassive black hole lurking at the center of our Milky Way galaxy.

U.S. urban trees store carbon, provide billions in economic value, finds state-by-state analysis Posted: 07 May 2013 04:58 PM PDT America's urban forests store an estimated 708 million tons of carbon, an environmental service with an estimated value of $50 billion, according to a recent study.

Sunshine could benefit health and prolong life, study suggests Posted: 07 May 2013 04:58 PM PDT Exposing skin to sunlight may help to reduce blood pressure, cut the risk of heart attack and stroke -- and even prolong life, a study suggests.

Rats take high-speed multisensory snapshots: Smell and touch, sniffing and 'whisking,' are locked in sync Posted: 07 May 2013 04:56 PM PDT New research from the laboratory shows that rats create high-speed "snapshots" of the environment by synchronized use of the senses of smell (sniffing) and touch (through their whiskers). Furthermore sniffing and "whisking" movements are synchronized at the same phase even when they are running at different frequencies, facilitating integration of multisensory information. The research sheds new light on biological rhythms that may evolutionarily underpin much animal behavior.

Genes show one big European family Posted: 07 May 2013 04:56 PM PDT From Ireland to the Balkans, Europeans are basically one big family, closely related to one another for the past thousand years, according to a new study of the DNA of people from across the continent.

20-million-year-old amber shatters theories of glass as a liquid Posted: 07 May 2013 12:49 PM PDT Fact or fiction? Stained glass found in medieval cathedrals becomes thicker at the bottom because glass moves over time. For years researchers have had their doubts, now scientists have further evidence that glass is not going anywhere.

Decline in snow cover spells trouble for many plants, animals Posted: 07 May 2013 10:44 AM PDT For plants and animals forced to tough out harsh winter weather, the coverlet of snow that blankets the north country is a refuge, a stable beneath-the-snow habitat that gives essential respite from biting winds and subzero temperatures.

Nerve stimulation for severe depression changes brain function Posted: 07 May 2013 10:44 AM PDT For nearly a decade, doctors have used implanted electronic stimulators to treat severe depression in people who don't respond to standard antidepressant treatments. Now, preliminary brain scan studies are revealing that vagus nerve stimulation brings about changes in brain metabolism weeks or even months before patients begin to feel better.

Oldest? New 'bone-head' dinosaur hints at higher diversity of small dinosaurs Posted: 07 May 2013 09:48 AM PDT Scientists have named a new species of bone-headed dinosaur (pachycephalosaur) from Alberta, Canada. The plant-eating Acrotholus audeti was approximately six feet long and weighed about 40 kgs in life. It represents the oldest bone-headed dinosaur in North America, and possibly the world.

Do bats know voices of friends they hang out with? Bats may recognize voices of other bats Posted: 07 May 2013 08:55 AM PDT Is it possible that mammals have the ability to recognize individuals of the same species, whom they know well, by their voice? A new study has found that even in nocturnal, fast-moving animals such as bats, there is an ability to recognize certain vocal aspects of other bats from their social groups.

Parents who suck on their infants' pacifiers may protect their children against developing allergy Posted: 07 May 2013 07:31 AM PDT Allergies are very common in industrialized countries. It has been suggested that exposure to harmless bacteria during infancy may be protective against the development of allergy. However, it has been difficult to pinpoint which bacteria a baby should be exposed to, and at what time and by which route this exposure should ideally occur.

Ice Age ancestors might have used words in common with us Posted: 07 May 2013 04:46 AM PDT New research shows that Ice Age people living in Europe 15,000 years ago might have used forms of some common words including I, you, we, man and bark, that in some cases could still be recognized today.

Plants 'talk' to plants to help them grow Posted: 07 May 2013 03:08 AM PDT Having a neighborly chat improves seed germination, finds new research. Even when other known means of communication, such as contact, chemical and light-mediated signals, are blocked, chilli seeds grow better when grown with basil plants. This suggests that plants are talking via nanomechanical vibrations.

Personalized bone substitutes created from skin cells Posted: 06 May 2013 03:14 PM PDT Scientists have made patient-specific bone substitutes from skin cells for repair of large bone defects. The study represents a major advance in personalized reconstructive treatments for patients with bone defects resulting from disease or trauma.

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